Conveyor for paper sheets and the like



United States Patent Inventor Herbert P. Sherman 724 W. Washington St., Chicago, 111. 60602 Appl. No. 746,805 Filed July 23, 1968 Patented Dec. 29, 1970 CONVEYOR FOR PAPER SHEETS AND THE LIKE 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 193/35, 193/37, 198/127, 271/52, 271/59 1111. C1 B65g 39/071, 865g 39/18,B65g 13/12 Field ofSearch 19s/1,29,

30, 88,117, 127,127C,l60,192, 192A; l93/35(A), 35(C), 35(F), 35(B), 35, 36, 37; 271/52, 59

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,030,816 2/1936 Fenton 198/127 2,836,284 5/1958 Gilliatt 198/127 3,179,222 4/1965 Connier 193/35 Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Assistant ExaminerRoger S. Gaither Attorney-Max R. Kraus ABSTRACT: A conveyor for paper sheets and the like comprising a bed formed of a series of cylindrical rollers arranged in parallel horizontal coplanar relationship. Each roller has a annular recess in its periphery and the recesses of the series are disposed in longitudinal registration. A guide rail is arranged with its lower edge extending into the recesses below the surfaces of the rollers. The rollers carry and propel the sheets in the direction of the guide rail so as to effect alignment of the sheets with the guide rail.

PATENTEU-nmzmsm Q I 3.550.741

. I e 11m! +uiL w @9342 M //v VEN TOE Herbert P. Sherman CONVEYOR FOR PAPER SHEETS AND THE LIKE This invention relates to paper handling and transferring apparatus, more particularly to the type of apparatus employed in connection with paper folding, printing, perforating, duplicating machines, etc., wherein individual sheets of paper, folded or unfolded, are sequentially deposited on a conveyor table or bed consisting of a series of rollers, some of which may be power-driven for movement from one point to another. In such apparatus the rollers are angularly disposed in relation to a fixed guide rail so that they impart to the sheets both forward and sideward movements to urge the sheets so that one of the side edges abuts against the guard rail as they are propelled in a forwardly direction, in order to align the sheets for proper entry into the machine associated with the apparatus.

Heretofore, the guide rail comprised a member having a vertical wall provided with a series of transverse arcuate cutouts opening downwardly, with each cutout affording a space to accommodate a respective roller. Since the sheets initially assume an angular relation to the guide rail such that one corner of each sheet constitutes a leading corner which will first engage the guide rail, in order to preclude the possibility of such corner entering into the clearance space between the arcuate edge of the cutout and the peripheral surface of a roller, which would result in jamming of the apparatus, it is essential that the dimensions of the arcuate cutout and the roller be such that there is a minimum of clearance between the two parts. Accordingly, the cutouts and rollers must be fabricated to very close tolerance and such tolerances must be maintained during the service life of the apparatus. It will be apparent that the rollers in use will be subjected to wear, reducing their peripheral dimensions and requiringrelatively early replacement in order to maintain the required low clearance between the rollers and the cutouts.

In accordance with my invention I provide a guide rail free of cutouts and instead provide recesses in the rollers in which the lower edge portion of the guide rail is received so that paper sheets moved by the rollers are caused to abut against an uninterrupted surface of the guide rail in their forward movement along the guide rail, thereby avoiding the possibility of any portion of the paper being inadvertently caught or snagged in any space between a roller and the guide rail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view showing an arrangement of a series of rollers in which a sheet of paper, illustrated in broken lines, is propelled forwardly and sidewardly into engagement with a guide rail in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view illustrating a guide rail and rollers according to prior art devices.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates a conveyor bed or table comprising a series of parallel cylindrical rollers suitably journaled for rotation and all disposed in a common plane. The shafts 12 of the rollers are disposed in acute angular relation to a guide rail 13 and may be connected by suitable gearing, not shown, so that all rotate simultaneously, the gearing being connected to suitable drive means, not shown. Each shaft 12 carries a plurality of roller segments 14 fixed to the shaft, there being a space 16 provided between adjacent roller segments. Preferably, each shaft 12 may have from two to five or more roller segments 14 with intervening spaces 16, as illustrated. The roller segments 14 preferably are formed of rubber or some suitable material having desirable friction characteristics to engage and propel the paper sheets.

'rupted surface free of any cutouts.

While a roller having a plurality of spaced roller segments 14 is preferred so as to render the apparatus more versatile in the sense that a guide rail 13 may be adjustably moved to a different series of registering spaces, as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 1, for the purpose of aligning different sizes of sheets of paper, it will be understood that rollers may be formed with single segments extending the full length of the roller. It will be understood that the spaces 16 preferably are of such width between adjacent segments as to permit adjustment of the guide rail within the spaces,as may be required.

FIG. 1 illustrates in broken lines the direction assumed by a sheet of paper 21 as it is moved forwardly and laterally. The sheet 21 is caused to be moved to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, so that when it engages the guide rail 13 it is caused to align itself in abutment with the guide rail and travels therealong until it is discharged from the conveyor. It will be noted that in such movement the leading side edge of the sheet 21 engages against an uninterrupted or continuous surface of the guide rail 13, as seen in FIG. 2, so, that at no time is there any likelihood of the leading edge of the paper entering into any space or crevice which would snag the paper and cause it to buckle and otherwise disrupt the operation of the apparatus. The rounded leading ends 17 of the segments 14 permit the sheets 21 to pass freely over the rollers without catching on the edges thereof.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional prior art arrangement in which the guide rail 25 has cutouts 26 which receive the rollers 27, there being a clearance space between each roller periphery and the edge of a respective cutout so that when a sheet of paper is travelling on top of the rollers its leading edge may very easily enter into the clearance space and become snagged, ruining the sheet of paper and jamming the apparatus. I

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A conveyor for paper sheets and the like for the purpose of aligning said sheets, comprising in combination a plurality of shafts each supporting a cylindrical roller, said cylindrical rollers being formed of rubber or the like material having frictional characteristics to engage and propel the paper sheets, said cylindrical rollers arranged in parallel horizontal coplanar relationship, each of said rollers having an annular recess in the periphery thereof with said recesses being in longitudinal registration, and a guide rail disposed in registration with said recesses with the lower edge of said guide rail extending into said recesses below the peripheral surfaces of 'said rollers and terminating immediately adjacent the top of said shafts so as to just clear the shafts, the axis of said rollers being disposed in acute angular relation to said guide rail; said cylindrical rollers having rounded leading ends to permit the sheets to pass over the rollers without catching on the edges thereof.

2. The invention'as defined in claim 1 in which the guide rail comprises a blade member having an uninterrupted vertical surface throughout its length.

3. The invention as defined in claim '1 in which each roller comprises spaced cylindrical segments with the spaces between the segments constituting the recesses and corresponding recesses being in longitudinal registration, with the guide rail positionable in registration with the different recesses in longitudinal registration.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 in which each roller segment is rounded at one end adjacent a space.

thereof and corresponding recesses with the guide rail disposed in registration with said recesses and with the lower edge of said guide rail extending into said recesses below the peripheral surfaces of said rollers. 

